The Friday Mindset - Issue #40

Friday! Boy are we glad to see you.

Pull up a chair, grab a brew and let's get started - it's issue 40. We can hardly believe we're still going... over a year now, and no plans to stop. Let's jump straight in with this.

Something to try...

Problem-solving is on our minds at the moment - or rather, the passive absence of any problem-solving inclinations in some of our students. They lose their textbook, but you don't find out until a week later. Turns out they were waiting for someone to notice the situation and fix it for them. You know what we're talking about (we hope it's not just us!) - a kind of learned helplessness that comes from feeling that they have no agency in their own lives.

We've felt that it's time for some action. In the short powerpoint that follows, we've put together a session on using limitations to boost creative problem-solving. And we've had a really good time with it - it's been funny and memorable and got students talking!

After the initial activity and discussion, students then need to bring a study-problem they have to the table, so make sure they're in a frame of mind where they can admit issues without fear of criticism. Working in pairs or small groups has been useful too, so try that.

As with all these mini-sessions we're sharing, feel free to give us some feedback! If you've tried a session and want to let us know how it went, say hello at [email protected].

A powerpoint for tutor groups

What we're reading...

Staying with creativity, we've stumbled across a book that's thirty years old, but has really impressed us. Roger von Oech's book about creative problem-solving, A Whack on the Side of the Head, has been going for ages and is still in print. We read it last year - found an old edition second-hand somewhere - but in fact, there's a 2010 edition that's apparently had a bunch of additional material added. Here's what Amazon says about it: "...over the years, A Whack on the Side of the Head has been praised by business people, educators, scientists, artists, youth leaders and many more. The book has been stimulating creativity in millions of readers, translated into eleven languages, and used in seminars around the world." It's full of, "... tips designed to systematically break through your mental blocks and unlock your mind for creative thinking."

It's been one that's got us thinking from a leader, teacher, and problem-solver perspective. There's some older material in there - the kind of stuff we're familiar with nowadays because it's seeped into the culture - but it's still full of interest. Here's an example: the use of metaphor to clarify a problem -

Buy A Whack On The Side Of The Head: How You Can be More Creative Revised, Updated, 25th Anniversary ed. by von Oech, Roger (ISBN: 9780446404662)

Our latest offer…

Another book giveaway this week! Congrats to those speedy enough to grab last week's. They were posted Wednesday, so should be with you right now as you read this.

If you're new, the procedure is super-simple. As soon as you read this - like now, do it now - email us at [email protected] and stake your claim. Sometimes they’re gone by 3:30pm, other times they’re still hanging about by 4:30pm so who knows, it might be worth a go. (Remember, these are books we’ve bought and read, not free gifts we’ve shelved and ignored, so they’re going to be a bit rough around the edges)

This week:

  • One copy of Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton (there's a good chapter on education).

  • One copy of Range by David Epstein (How Generalists thrive in a specialised world.) This one was claimed a couple of weeks back but the winner never provided an address, so we reckon it's safe to find it another home now.)

And that's it for this week. Have a great weekend!

Steve and Martin

p.s. The A Level Mindset has had a complete refresh and re-write. The new 3rd edition has 8000 new words, plenty of new advice, lots of stuff about implementation and case studies from schools using the VESPA model. If your copy's looking a bit dog-eared, get yourself a new one!

40 activities for transforming student commitment, motivation and productivity: REVISED EDITION!